FEMA wants at least $5.8M in Sandy aid repaidAfter Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast nearly two years ago, the federal government quickly sent out $1.4 billion in emergency disaster aid to the hurricane's victims.
Now, thousands of people might have to pay back their share.

Obama orders airstrikes in Syria for first timeOpening a new military front in the Middle East, President Barack Obama authorized U.S. airstrikes inside Syria for the first time Wednesday night, along with expanded strikes in Iraq as part of "a steady, relentless effort" to root out Islamic State extremists and their spreading reign of terror.

Putin promises new weapons to fend Western threatsRussia will counter military moves by the U.S. and NATO with an array of new nuclear and conventional weapons, President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday as the military successfully test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile from a nuclear submarine.

Scientists say the ozone layer is recovering
Earth's protective ozone layer is beginning to recover, largely because of the phase-out since the 1980s of certain chemicals used in refrigerants and aerosol cans, a U.N. scientific panel reported Wednesday in a rare piece of good news about the health of the planet.

Airstrikes in Syria? Obama outlining Mideast plansIn a high-stakes address to the nation Wednesday night, President Barack Obama planned to outline a broad expansion of the U.S. military role in combating extremists in Iraq and Syria, including a call for arming Syrian opposition forces and potentially launching airstrikes in both countries.